Los Angeles, California: Lakers Rule Out Luka Doncic Against the Clippers With Back Tightness

The Los Angeles Lakers ruled Luka Doncic out of Wednesday night's game against the LA Clippers at Intuit Dome in Inglewood because of back tightness, the team announced. Field Level Media reported that Los Angeles is holding Doncic out on the second night of a back-to-back, and the Associated Press reported the same decision from Inglewood. It is the first game Doncic has missed this season, after he started each of the Lakers' first four games.

The ruling came one night after Doncic scored 41 points in 37 minutes in the Lakers' 136 to 129 home loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday. He added nine assists, five rebounds and a blocked shot as Los Angeles fell to 3 and 1 and took its first loss of the season. Two nights earlier, on Sunday, he had scored 52 points against the Utah Jazz, USA Today reported. One week into the season, Doncic leads the NBA with 36.0 points per game while averaging 8.3 assists and 6.8 rebounds. He is shooting 48.4 percent from the field and 39.6 percent from three-point range, and he entered Wednesday leading the league with 5.3 three-pointers made and 13.3 attempted per game, Field Level Media reported.

Doncic is not the only starter missing the second meeting with the Clippers in a week. The Lakers will also be down starting forward Ziaire Williams because of left foot soreness, the Associated Press reported. The Clippers will be without forward Rui Hachimura, who has left quad soreness, and Kobe Sanders will make his first start of the season in Hachimura's place, ESPN reported. Hachimura scored 16 points against his former team last week in the Lakers' 125 to 117 win over the Clippers at Crypto.com Arena. Cameron Carr and Adou Thiero, who have yet to play this season, also remained out for the Lakers, Sports Illustrated reported.

The Athletic's Dan Woike reported that the Lakers are being cautious with Doncic and the back tightness, according to a source, as the team starts the second game of a stretch of five games in seven days, and that there is no long-term worry about his health at this time, Heavy reported. Doncic did not speak with reporters after the Portland game while he received extended treatment, and no single play was identified as the moment he hurt his back, ClutchPoints reported. The Lakers play again on Friday night on the road against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.

Doncic is the reigning NBA scoring champion and leads the league in scoring again this season. He has won two of the past three NBA scoring titles, but he has not played in more than 70 games in a season since his rookie campaign in 2018-19 with Dallas, the Associated Press reported. He was limited to 64 games last season, did not return after injuring his hamstring in early April, and missed all of the Lakers' two-round playoff run. He has played in 96 of the Lakers' 121 regular season games since the team acquired him in a trade with the Mavericks in early 2025, and he was sidelined with a calf injury when the trade was made.